Kash Patel fired the FBI’s top Iran experts days before the strikes, and the reason why is raising serious alarms
“Kash Patel” by Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Settling scores at America’s expense.
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FBI Director Kash Patel fired at least a dozen counterintelligence staffers, including top Iran experts, just days before the U.S. launched strikes on Iran. The fired personnel were agents and staff from a unit called CI-12, based at the FBI’s Washington Field Office. According to four former officials familiar with the matter, the dismissals came directly from Director Patel.
The CI-12 unit handles media leaks, global espionage, and threats from foreign governments, including Iran. More broadly, these counterintelligence squads are the main domestic teams responsible for investigating insider threats and foreign intelligence activities on American soil. Losing such specialized staff is considered a serious blow to the FBI’s capabilities.
According to The New York Sun, the firings happened just days before the U.S. began its strikes on Iran. Around the same time, a mass shooting took place at a bar in downtown Austin, Texas, carried out by a man wearing clothing that read “Property of Allah” and featured a design resembling the Iranian flag. The timing raised immediate concerns about losing Iran-focused counterintelligence experts at such a critical moment.
Patel’s retaliation over the Mar-a-Lago investigation appears to be the driving force behind the dismissals
The reason behind the firings, according to reports, is that these CI-12 staffers had previously been assigned to the Justice Department’s investigation into President Trump’s retention of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. Just a week before the firings, Patel revealed that Special Prosecutor Jack Smith and the FBI had secretly obtained his phone records, along with those of current White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
These subpoenas were part of Smith’s investigations into both Mar-a-Lago and January 6. Patel called the subpoena an act by a “weaponized” Biden DOJ. He said it was “outrageous and deeply alarming that the previous FBI leadership secretly subpoenaed my own phone records, along with those of now-White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, using flimsy pretexts and burying the entire process in prohibited case files designed to evade all oversight.”
Patel has also faced separate scrutiny over his use of a government jet to attend the Olympics, where he was seen drinking with Team USA. A few hours after Patel’s statement was published, at least a dozen CI-12 employees who had worked on the Mar-a-Lago investigation, and were believed to have worked on the subpoenas for Patel and Wiles’ phone records, were fired.
Several former FBI officials have openly criticized Patel for the dismissals. This is not the only controversial decision Patel has made recently, as he also drew backlash for shutting down an investigation into an ICE-related death, a move so legally questionable it prompted prosecutors to resign in protest.
Michael E. Anderson, President of the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, issued a formal statement saying that “The summary dismissal of experienced Agents and analysts, especially those with experience in Iranian counter-intelligence, seriously undermines the FBI workforce in addressing the significant and ever-increasing threats our nation faces today.”
Published: Mar 3, 2026 01:15 pm